Goverment thinks of raping women with its abortion bill

According to a new bill that was passed in the Virginia State Senate and that is undergoing debate in the House, a Virginia woman who wants to have an abortion would be required to have a transvaginal ultrasound test before the procedure can be performed.

And since the vast majority of abortions take place in the first trimester, in which a "jelly on the belly" scan cannot produce clear images, this means a condom-covered-ultrasound-probing rod would forcibly penetrate the woman's vagina.

Even worse, this bill would mandate the invasive ultrasound.

This legislation has many people rightfully shocked by what appears to be a blatant violation of what Virginia law defines as "rape," thrusting an object into a woman's vagina without her consent.

The Republican-sponsored bill frivolously states that the ultrasound is for the purpose of obtaining the gestation age. But in reality, ultrasounds are medically unnecessary for abortions.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, along with the American College of Radiology and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, which has set the guidelines for ethical practices concerning abortions, explicitly state that abortion does not, at any point in time, call for transvaginal sonograms.

But too bad, say Virginia Republicans. In addition to this requirement, which physicians are mandated to complete, if the woman does not wish to see the results of her ultrasound, that fact is noted and will remain on the woman's medical record indefinitely. After those results are returned, the woman will also be subject to a 24-hour waiting period before commencing the operation.

Apparently, Richmond has run out of scarlet letters, notes writer Dahlia Lithwick.

In retaliation to this absurd mandate demanding women be shamefully violated before an abortion procedure, Virginia Sen. Janet Howell called for rectal examinations and cardiac stress tests before physicians can prescribe erectile dysfunction medicine to men. The amendment was rejected.

It has become disgustingly clear how the GOP's war against women's rights is being placed under the false banner of medical need. This bill amounts to nothing more than a single offense in the large-scale attack on women across the nation. Because abortion remains legal on the national level because of Roe v. Wade, Republicans have expanded their efforts to create as many obstacles as possible on the state level. Similar bills are also in state legislatures in Texas and Iowa.

Au revoir, common decency. The Virginia Republican party, a supposed advocate for smaller government, has made it necessary that women be violated by a medically unnecessary trans-vaginal probe, regardless of their consent, forced into an arbitrary waiting period of 24 hours before having an abortion procedure and subjected to their medical records being indefinitely noted if they choose not to view the hand that slapped them.

So, congratulations, smaller government is now in your vagina.

Update: On Wednesday night, the House passed a revised bill in which transvaginal ultrasounds alone would become optional, according to the Richmond-Times Dispatch. It now faces debate in the Senate where its sponsor, Sen. Jill Vogel, and others have publicly vowed to strike the amendment.